Back March BehindMLM received a reader request for an updated MWR Life review:

Then, another reader reached out in late May claiming MWR Life had a new compensation plan:

MWR Life has made its way up the review list with an update due soon. In the meantime, I couldn’t have predicted what happened next.

On July 3rd BehindMLM was contacted by Anna Rodriguez, citing herself as a PR Manager of MWR Life;

I want to note here that BehindMLM has a long-standing policy of ignoring PR firm emails. This is because the conversation essentially boils down to “blah blah blah your research and reporting is affecting the reputation of our client”.

To which the reply is always, “My only concern is BehindMLM’s research and reporting is accurate. Such to the extent your client’s reputation may be affected, that’s a result of your client’s own actions. BehindMLM is not responsible for your client’s actions.”

It’s tiring having that conversation over and over, so usually I don’t bother. Rodriguez however was corresponding from an MWR Life corporate email address – so I made an exception.

As above, Rodriguez wrote in to discuss “MWR Life’s role (or lack thereof) in the situation involving Ms. Techer.”

Catherine Techer is a former top-ranked MWR Life promoter:

The “situation”, as it were, was Techer’s 2021 arrest in Andorra on pyramid fraud charges.

This is the exchange that followed Rodriguez’s initial July 3rd email;

Oz (July 4th):

Hi Anna,

The link between the entities and MWR Life is Catherine Techer.

Please don’t play stupid.

 

Rodriguez (July 9th):

Dear Oz,

Thank you for your reply. We fully acknowledge that Catherine Techer was a top promoter for MWR Life, and we agree that companies should be responsible for monitoring the actions of their affiliates.

That said, the situation with “To The Top” and Meridiem Agency involves external, unauthorized business activities conducted independently by Ms. Techer.

The authorities investigating the matter have not found any evidence implicating MWR Life in the operations or decisions made within those entities.

These ventures were not sanctioned, approved, or financially connected to MWR Life in any capacity. As such, it’s misleading to suggest that the company itself is involved in this.

We are respectfully requesting that you consider separating MWR Life’s name from the headline and main narrative of the article.

While Ms. Techer’s past affiliation is a matter of public record, the current legal proceedings are tied to her independent conduct, not to her work as an MWR Life promoter.

If you require any supporting documentation, we are more than willing to provide it.

We look forward to your response.

 

Oz (July 11th): 

If you can prove the charges in Andorra do not pertain to Techer promoting MWR Life (by any means and through any entity), I’m all ears.

I’m not aware of Techer promoting any other MLM opportunity during the specified time her charges are related to.

 

Rodriguez (July 17th):

Hello Oz,

We would like to reiterate the following key facts regarding Catherine and MWR Life:

  1. Catherine Techer has never been found guilty in either Andorra or France of any criminal offense. There is no record of a criminal trial or verdict to attach.
  2. Claims that suggested MWR Life was involved in these activities were legally proven to be false and defamatory:
    -We initiated legal proceedings against a magazine that made these defamatory statements, and we won.
    -We also sued an individual who made false claims about MWR Life’s involvement, and the court ruled in our favor.

We have attached fragments of the official court judgments confirming these rulings for your reference.

Authorities have not linked MWR Life to the accusations or to any operational decisions made by Ms. Techer in her personal or external business ventures.

Given the legal findings and our lack of connection to the case, we respectfully request that you revise the article to remove references that associate MWR Life with Ms. Techer’s legal issues.

We remain fully available to provide additional information if needed.

Thank you for your time.

The attachments Rodriguez sent were selective brief snippets of purported legal documents in French.

Oz (July 17th):

The article neither states Techer was found guilty or that MWR Life was involved. What it does correctly state is that Techer is/was a top MWR Life earner at the time.

I don’t understand whatever language that is so unless you want to send me notarized complete documents in PDF form I can’t comment on the attachments.

Oh and first and last warning, any more baseless legal threats and this conversation is over.

 

Rodriguez (July 18th):

Oz,

I want to reassure you that we’ve never intended to issue any kind of legal threat. My tone and purpose throughout have been friendly and cooperative, and we value a relationship with you and the BehindMLM platform.

Regarding the court materials: we understand your point. We’ve only shared excerpts because we prefer to keep the full documents private.

Lastly, you’re right that the article does not state Techer was found guilty, nor does it explicitly state MWR Life was involved. However, given that many readers view your website as a trusted source, the way the information is presented has led to misunderstandings and incorrect assumptions, specifically that MWR Life is somehow implicated in the allegations against Ms. Techer.

Our request is not about denying Ms. Techer’s past as a top promoter; rather, it’s a plea to avoid any mention of MWR Life in this particular article to prevent further misinterpretation and reputational damage.

We would appreciate your understanding.

 

Oz (July 18th):

Please stop wasting my time. See attached.

I’m not interest in PR spin, the attachments speak for themselves.

What Rodriguez didn’t know up until this point is that I knew Techer owned a “To The Top” MWR Life promoter account.

On July 5th, 2021, Eric Aubin, then MWR Life’s Vice-President for Europe, signed off on a “certificate of activity and earnings” pertaining to Techer’s “To The Top” MWR Life position:

Ms. Techer has achieved an exceptional growth over the years, obtaining the highest distinction of NATIONAL MANGER in 2017 and opening the MILLION DOLLARS EARNER CLUB in 2020.

During these years, Ms. Techer has generated for TO THE TOP SLU an average daily income of about 5,000 USD.

Techer registered her To The Top MWR Life promoter account on November 22nd, 2016.

On July 10th, 2021, five days after his certification letter, Aubin created a second letter – this time certifying requested termination of Techer’s To The Top MWR Life account.

I, here undersigned Eric Aubin, Vice President Europe of MWR Life, certify that TO THE TOP SLU … has requested to proceed with no delay to the termination of the account TO THE TOP whose registration number is 11047.

As of today, TO THE TOP terminates its account to focus on the development of new activities not related to Network Marketing (MLM), directly in Andorra, in order to participate in the development of the economy in this country.

The Company TO THE TOP SLU has, therefor, no more activity on behalf of MWR Life LLC and consequently does not receive any commission related to it.

News of Techer’s arrest broke a few weeks later on August 1st, 2021. Did Techer defraud consumers out of three million in twenty-one days through activities unrelated to MWR Life?

No idea. But I do want to draw your attention to one of Rodriguez’s claims in her original email;

To our knowledge there are no contracts, partnership agreements, or financial transactions linking MWR Life with “To The Top” or Meridiem Agency.

Also this was Techer’s immediate response to her arrest following release;

“It was mentioned that I was at the head of a pyramid scheme participating in the development of MWR Life”, [Techer] says before explaining that “you know that MWR Life does not have to prove its legality and reliability”.

The defendant does acknowledge that “the case remains open”, but maintains that “it will not be difficult to prove that MWR Life is a very, very legal network marketing company and not a pyramid scheme” .

Make of that what you will.

Anna Rodriguez responded to my “To The Top MWR account” attachment email on July 26th;

Hello Oz,

Let’s focus on verifiable facts:

-To our knowledge, neither Catherine Techer nor To The Top has ever been convicted, in Andorra or in France. They were only under suspicion, largely due to manipulations by Xavier Rossey, who had previously attempted to extort around €300,000 from them.

-There is a big difference between being investigated and being convicted. From what we understand, the investigations have since been closed, and neither Techer nor To The Top has been found guilty of anything.

-MWR Life was not involved in the investigations, and there have been no infractions, penalties, or inquiries into our company.

-To The Top was involved in travel services, sports car optimization, and architecture. None of which had any connection to MLM or MWR Life.

I want to point out here that in 2018 BehindMLM reviewed MWR Financial. To quote the introduction of that review;

The primary difference between MWR Life in 2015 and today is that it appears to have switched to the travel niche.

MWR Life very much presents itself as a travel niche MLM company, based on their Travel Advantage VIP membership.

I can’t speak to “sports car optimization and architecture”, but MWR Life was definitely “involved in travel services” circa 2018. This is three years prior to Techer’s arrest.

Additionally, here’s Techer marketing MWR Life’s “Travel Advantage” travel services offering using To The Top branding in 2020 (click to enlarge);

Techer also held MWR Life Travel Advantage “in person” To The Top branded marketing events, one of which Eric Aubin attended:

After getting up close and personal with Techer, Aubin went on to give a MWR Life Travel Advantage membership presentation:

Rodriguez’s email continues;

-Meridiem Agency falsely claimed to have partnerships with MWR Life, just as they falsely did with To The Top. No formal relationships existed.

We understand the article doesn’t explicitly state that MWR Life was guilty or directly involved, but the way it’s presented creates a misleading connection.

As a result, many readers searching for our company mistakenly assume we were involved in the alleged illegal activities simply due to Catherine Techer’s past affiliation.

We’re not making threats or seeking promotion. We simply ask that MWR Life not be associated with unproven allegations.

Personal or unrelated business activities of former affiliates should not be attributed to the company, especially when neither MWR Life nor the individual has been convicted, charged, or sanctioned in any way.

Thanks for your understanding.

Rodriguez didn’t provide any verifiable evidence to support her claims on MWR Life’s behalf.

I haven’t replied but will send Rodriguez a link to this article and leave it there. BehindMLM’s reporting of Techer’s arrest is neither misleading or inaccurate. We won’t be making any changes to the article in question.

Hopefully at this point you can see why I typically don’t bother with PR emails.

As to what happened to Techer’s case;

Techer was subject to house arrest following her release and this remained in place till December 2021. As part of her release conditions, Techer was prohibited from leaving Andorra.

The investigation is still ongoing and the accounts associated with the company continue to be blocked, just as Techer continues with the impossibility of certain movements, since notaries have court instructions not to register any operation that intends to be prosecuted.

At the same time, the defendant has warned people around her – without this publication being able to clarify whether the step has finally been taken or not – that she was planning to declare herself insolvent so as not to have to face certain requests.

Andorran officials revoked Techer’s local business license(s) in February 2024.

The woman, who is still awaiting trial, has not been in the Principality for months.

There have been no verifiable further public updates since. Whether Techer is still in Andorra is unclear. Ditto the status of her criminal case.